The Prince's Records
by WeiXiao
Summary: Adjusting to living on Earth was clearly not as easy as Aleksander Vers Allusia thought. He would have to go through quite a few situations to get used to things. Sidestories to Butterfly Effect. Mainly focus on Alek's time on Earth. For the most part, they will be lighthearted stories. Not meant to be taken more in-depth.
1. Chapter 1

**Bored: Decided to do some sidestories for Butterfly Effect, mainly centered around holiday stuff.**

 **For the most part, this will highlight Alek's interactions as he learns about customs on Earth.**

 **Given the current occasion, this will be about Alek's first Christmas when he first came to Earth.**

* * *

"So people give each other presents?" Alek asked Inko.

Inko nodded, uncertain as to why Alek was still asking these kinds of questions. "Yeah… Didn't you celebrate Christmas at home?"

Caught in the act, Alek had no choice but to make something up on the spot. "Umm, well, I'm not used to it. Giving presents and all that. So no, I haven't actually celebrated Christmas at home."

"You've never celebrated Christmas at all? Not even in all the time you were living in Europe? What did your family do?" Inko demanded, utterly shocked that Alek had apparently never celebrated the greatest holiday in all of existence.

"My parents weren't very big on celebrating holidays." Alek admitted. It technically wasn't a lie, as on Vers, the only holiday that was celebrated at any level was the day when Vers was founded. And even that wasn't celebrated often. Not to mention that he had lost his mother and father before he was even five years old.

Inko huffed. "Well we're just going to have to change that. How about this? This Christmas, I'll buy you a present and you buy me one as well. I'll make it easy for your first Christmas."

Well, this was quite the development.

Had Alek given presents before? Yes. But presents mainly boiled down to finding books that he could read to Asseylum. While her caretakers were supposed to do those kinds of jobs, Alek had found pleasure in being the one to take care of his sister whenever he could, and Asseylum liked it when her brother read for her.

It had been about seven months since Alek first came to Japan. After Inko had shown him around, they became fast friends, with Nina and Inaho being part of the group of friends as well. During this time, Alek had mainly developed his talents in drawing, though he had been found to be proficient in many other areas.

Celebrating holidays was clearly not one of them. Thankfully, Inko made it easy for him.

"Right. I think I can do that." Alek was relieved. Mainly because he thought he could manage one present for Inko. Oh, how wrong he would be. "So what do you want me to get you?"

Inko's face took on an exasperated look. "You're supposed to surprise me."

"I am?" Alek looked confused. "I thought all we had to do was just give presents that the other person wanted."

"Yeah but half the fun is in the surprise." Inko huffed.

Alek put his hands up in surrender. "Ok, ok! I'll surprise you. Promise."

"You better."

 _What did I do to get myself into this situation?_

* * *

"Count Cruhteo, can you ask Slaine Troyard to come over?"

"Certainly, your Highness. But why is that?" The count asked, confusion in his face.

"I need advice regarding a tradition that the terrans have once a year and Slaine is probably the most qualified person to help me in that case." Aleksander said.

The count nodded. "I see. I'll bring him over at once."

"Thank you, Count Cruhteo."

When Slaine appeared, it was not without a confused look on his face. "What do you need, Prince Aleksander?"

"I need advice regarding Christmas." Aleksander said, a completely serious look on his face.

It took Slaine a couple moments to register what Aleksander said. "Christmas?"

Aleksander nodded. "Christmas."

"What aspect of Christmas are we talking about?"

"I'm trying to understand the whole gift giving thing a bit more. It still doesn't make sense to me. Why do people give each other presents when it's easier to get it themselves?"

Slaine took a moment to gather his thoughts. "While Christmas started out as a holiday celebrated by mainly one religion, it has encompassed most of the world now as a universal gift-giving holiday of fun and cheer."

"That still doesn't give me any idea as to why gift-giving is a custom." Aleksander frowned.

 _This is going to be more difficult to explain._ Slaine took a breath. "While I'm not certain as to the original source, the idea of gift-giving mainly comes from the idea of Santa Claus, a big man in a red suit."

Aleksander looked utterly confused. "Santa Claus? Is he a historical person?"

"Not as he exists right now." Slaine shook his head. "He doesn't actually exist. It's more of a thing for children to expect presents from when they behave."

"So children wait for presents… from a nonexistent being?" Aleksander asked. "I still don't get it."

"Most people who actually think about it don't." Slaine admitted. "It's more of an excuse for parents to buy things for their children that they normally wouldn't get."

The irony that no one dared point out was that Slaine and Prince Aleksander were technically still children. Very intelligent and mature for their age, but children nonetheless.

At this point, some bits made sense to Aleksander. "So parents usually pretend to be this Santa Claus character to give presents to their children as encouragement for behaving well throughout the year?"

"More or less."

"What about between friends?"

Slaine frowned. "I think that's more of just friends being nice to each other as a sign of their friendship. Is that what your problem is related to?"

"That's exactly what I'm confused about. I'm celebrating Christmas for the first time ever and I have utterly no idea what to get for a friend."

Slaine had to try very hard to avoid smiling. Culture shock was quite the thing. He knew that well enough, having been completely blown away by the whole idea that he knew royalty when he first came to Vers. "Well, what do you know about your friend?"

Aleksander's brow furrowed in thought. "Well, her family runs a restaurant that packages food. We're the same age. She likes dragging me around from place to place. Oh! And for some reason, she likes seeing me happy. She's also the first close friend that I've made here."

Slaine frowned. "Why don't you just get her something from the store?"

"That's the problem! I don't know what to get."

"Have you tried just thanking her for being one of your first friends on Earth?" At this point, Slaine was grasping at straws. Much as he hated to admit it, he didn't have much experience in giving gifts to friends. Travelling around so much with his father had not given him much opportunity to bond with people.

However, Slaine's last suggestion gave Aleksander just the thought he needed. "I haven't, actually. Thanks, Slaine! I'll see you later!"

With that, the screen fizzed out.

Count Cruhteo took that moment to ask Slaine a question from where he was standing. "Are all terran holidays usually this confusing?"

Slaine looked rather abashed. "Some of them, but mainly just Christmas. I'm still afraid that his Highness is going to overshoot in terms of giving gifts."

"Is that bad?"

"As I understand it, it's better than undershooting, milord."

* * *

While Inko expected Alek to appear with presents at her place on Christmas day, she did not expect him to have two shopping bags worth of presents. It made for the funny sight. A nine-year old boy trying to lug in two large bags while his attendant attempted to offer help but was refused each time.

"Sir, are you sure you don't want me to help you?"

"I'm sure, Jarvis."

When Alek finally made it in, Inko couldn't help but stare.

Alek looked embarrassed. "It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be."

Inko just stared. "You only had to get one present…" _Just how rich is Alek to be able to afford all of this stuff?_ Some of the stuff in the bags looked extremely expensive.

Alek stared at his friend. "Wait… I only had to get one?"

"Maybe I should have made that more clear…" Inko looked rather embarrassed.

Inko's father spoke up as she rounded the corner. "Oh, Inko. Is your friend Alek here—" She stopped to stare at the two bags Alek had dragged through the door.

"Hi, Mr. Amifumi. Sorry about all this stuff. I thought I was supposed to bring more than one present here." Alek had the most embarrassed look on his face.

Inko seemed just as embarrassed now, seeing as she had gotten just one gift for Alek.

"So…" Inko's father began. "Why exactly are there so many gifts?"

Alek laughed nervously. "Well, when I was asking one of my friends from back home about advice regarding Christmas gifts, he suggested that I try just thanking Inko for being one of first friends in Japan. I might have taken that too seriously."

"Well, we could always try distributing these gifts to everyone when they arrive. That way it won't be so many gifts for just one person."

Inko nodded slowly. "I think that would probably be a good idea."

Alek nodded. "I agree. But this one's has to be for Inko." He took out one wrapped package and handed it to his friend.

"Alright, we'll put that aside for now. Party starts in a few minutes. Make yourself comfortable."

* * *

After the party, Inko went to her room to open Alek's gift. It'd been fun, with Alek enjoying himself greatly. Inko had made that one of her main missions when she first dragged Alek all around Shinawara during the months when he had arrived to Japan. For the most part, she had been successful.

As Inko looked at the present, she had to wonder. What was Alek's gift inside?

 _Oh well. Opening it now._ Inko ripped off the wrapping paper.

Her eyes widened for a second as she recognized the picture in the photo frame.

It was a picture from when fall had first come along. She and Alek had been running around in a park before the two of them fell down on their backs, laughing the entire time. Inko's mother had snapped a picture for the two of them. Alek's attendant had asked her for a physical copy as a keepsake. Inko hadn't gotten a copy, though that was mainly because she hadn't focused the picture at the time.

When she turned it around, she noticed that Alek had written a note on the back.

 _Merry Christmas, Inko! Thanks for being my first friend._

 _-Alek_

Inko put it on her desk, knowing she would cherish the gift for a long time.

* * *

 **I always feel obligated to put out a Christmas story of some sort. I'd have to say the most difficult thing about this particular story was trying to think like a nine-year old. Seriously, I kept worrying I would put in a more mature and intellectual thought by accident. Hopefully I did alright.**

 **Either way, that's that.**

 **Merry Christmas to you all!**

 **WX**


	2. Chapter 2

**Video games are universal. So is me victimizing Calm.**

* * *

"So video games are basically simulations that people do for fun?" Alek asked, curious.

Calm looked almost horrified. "You mean you've never played video games before?"

"I've watched." Alek admitted. "Never actually bothered learning how to play."

Alek was hanging out at Calm's place along with the rest of their group of friends. At the current moment, he, Inaho, Okisuke, and Calm were all in the living room where Calm had the video game console set up.

"Why not? They're really fun." Calm pointed out.

Alek sighed. "In case you've forgotten, I spend most of my free time sketching or reading books. Personally, that's my favorite thing to do. Video games look like they'd be really easy to pick up and learn."

"That's it! I'm teaching you how to play video games." Calm exclaimed. "We can't have you go your entire life without at least playing a single video game."

"Plenty of people go their entire lives without playing video games. I don't see why Alek has to be any different."

"Thank you, Inaho. Besides, aren't they the reason that Okisuke flunked his last test?" Alek had to start teasing.

Okisuke clearly was not feeling the love. "Hey! That was a one-time thing!"

"You said that the last three times as well. I don't even see why you spend so much time on it. It seems kind of simple and pointless."

"How about a bet, then?" Calm asked. "If you say it's easy, then we should have a competition."

Alek looked interested. "What are you betting?"

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight. You're going to convince the school board to host a video game-themed festival if Calm beats you in a best of five?" Inko asked, looking completely confused.

Alek shrugged. "I could probably get the principal's approval if I tried hard enough. Not that I'm interested in letting Calm win."

"What happens if you win?"

Inko was slightly unsettled by Alek's grin. "He has to take art lessons for two months if I win."

"He hates drawing."

"I'm well aware."

"So what game are the two of you playing to settle this bet?" Inko was curious to see how this all panned out.

"Some game called Sim-Kat 9. Apparently it's a kataphrakt simulator of some sort." Alek said.

Inko paused. "Did you just say Sim-Kat 9?"

Alek looked at her. "Yeah. Why?"

"Alek, Calm is a master of that game. He's near the top of the leaderboards in the online servers since it came out. You just took a rigged bet."

Alek blinked in surprised. "Huh. So he can actually excel at something. Well, the bet is made, so there's no point worrying about it now."

When Alek got to the controller, he took a long hard look at it for roughly three minutes, reading up all the controls before Calm called out to him. "You ready to lose, Alek?"

"Eh, we'll see."

Inko watched interested, as Calm promptly destroyed Alek in the first match between the two of them. The second match followed in similar fashion, though Inko noticed that Alek stalled for as long as possible while Calm kept on showing off different moves.

When the second match finally finished, Calm had a huge grin on his face. "I can't wait for the video game festival. This is going to be great."

Inko for her part was unsettled by how calm Alek looked despite the score. "I wouldn't be so sure."

The next match the two of them played out like the second one at first, with Calm pulling all sorts of crazy moves to get the advantage over Alek. Alek for his part avoided the moves, slowly backing off in the city setting they were in.

When Alek's kataphrakt was backed into the corner, Calm grinned. "Victory is mine!"

Which was when Calm's kataphrakt stepped on a mine.

"Oh hey, lucky me." Alek chuckled.

Calm looked shocked, and for good reason. He didn't expect Alek to actually get a win. In fact, no one did. Except for Alek, who looked as unperturbed as ever.

As the two of them loaded into the next match, Inko leaned over to whisper in Alek's ear. "Is there anything you haven't been able to do?"

"I still can't drive." Alek admitted. "Tried a couple times, gave up on it because I kept running over cones by accident."

"Wait, you can ace the kataphrakt simulations at school, but you can't drive a car?" Inko stifled a laugh.

Alek huffed. "Those are two completely different things and you know it."

It was a tad bit awkward for him, mainly because Inko excelled at the driving tests. She wasn't licensed to drive, but when she got behind the wheel, she turned heads in amazement.

When the game loaded, Alek turned his focus back to playing. It was then that Inko noticed what Alek had been doing in the first two games. Watching Calm's fingers. He was mimicking the moves that Calm pulled off.

When Alek won his second game, Calm almost started panicking before relaxing and muttering to himself. "It's ok, Calm. It's just a fluke. There's no way Alek actually mastered your moves. He just did it by accident."

It wasn't by accident.

Five minutes later, Alek handed Calm a slip of paper. "Your lessons will be starting next week. Do try and put some effort into it."

No one could hold in any laughter. Even Inaho had a smile on his face.

* * *

A couple weeks later at school, everyone noticed that the quality of Calm's work in art class had gone up, while Alek had a satisfied smile on his face.

Inko found him in the park once again, sketching while sitting under a tree. "Calm's really been taking to those art classes. It's actually kind of scary seeing him do so well in another subject that isn't science."

Alek smiled. "I figured I could get something good done for him. More skills means more opportunities. Besides, it should help him with sketching out designs if he ever gets into architecture like he wants to."

"Are you sure it was just you not wanting to lose?" Inko asked, a smile on her face.

"Maybe a bit of that." Alek admitted. "Besides, could you imagine having a video game festival? I'm pretty sure we'd only get the Gaming Club as participants. Not to mention the faculty would hate me for ages."

Inko let out a laugh. "Oh come on, you know that's not true. The faculty loves you!"

"Only as much as I help them with their work." Alek pointed out. "But sheesh, I didn't think those games would be as easy as I thought they were."

Inko was well aware that Alek had lived a rather sheltered life, having been forced to focus on excelling academically. Thus, seeing Alek's eyes light up every time he experienced something new was something she always looked forward to.

She noticed that Alek wasn't referencing anything in immediate sight for his sketch. "What are you sketching?"

Alek smiled before adjusting his sketchbook so she could see his datapad, where she saw an orchid on-screen. "You've been wanting a new flower sketch for a while, haven't you?"

It was things like this that made them friends. Inko smiled. "Thanks."

The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon taking a nap under the tree.

* * *

 **I have too much fun with these.**


End file.
